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Seizures And Head Injury

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People who have experienced a head injury can be subject to various symptoms. Some symptoms can be mild, while others can be very serious. Symptoms may occur immediately after the injury, while others occur after some time has passed. Symptoms can last briefly. Some of the less serious symptoms of head injuries include mild headaches, nausea, and brief loss consciousness. Others, including seizures, are much more serious and can last for days, weeks, and even years in some cases.

Head trauma victims are 12 times more likely than people who have not suffered from head injuries to have seizures. Head injuries occur all the time. People who have acute intracranial hematomas can also have a high rate of epilepsy. The severity of the head injury is typically reflected in the severity of the symptoms that follow. Seizures are considered to be more serious than most symptoms relating to head injuries. Seizures do occur in people who have never had a head injury, but people who have experienced a head injury are much more likely to have seizures.

A seizure is a phenomenon caused by abnormal electrical activity of a person's brain cells. When these abnormal discharges occur, many different muscle groups in the body involuntarily contract, leading to uncontrollable movements. A person who experiences a seizure may lose their memory temporarily. A seizure can last anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes. Seizures can affect a person of any age.

A doctor will typically treat a person who has suffered a head injury with anti-seizure medication as a preventative measure, even before they have begun having seizures. Those who have suffered a head injury and regularly or rarely have seizures will be prescribed this type of medication as well. There are many different types of seizures; therefore there are numerous seizure medications that can be prescribed to a patient.

Recent studies have shown that if one suffers from seizures, it can contribute to more brain damage and shorten one's life. Other injuries that are related to epilepsy are the possibility of having a seizure while driving and crashing, falling injuries, and the risk of choking.

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that results in reoccurring seizures. EEG, SPECT, MRI, PET, and other diagnostic tests are usually performed to find the region of the brain that has been or will possibly be affected. Typically, these diagnostic tests are not used for a patient's initial diagnosis. The name for the most common type of seizure and epilepsy-related seizure is tonic-clonic seizure. They can be treated sometimes with anti-seizure medications, and can completely or largely control epileptic seizures.

Another type of seizure is known as Complex Partial-Seizure Disorder, which is considerably more subtle than epileptic seizures, but blanking out can occur, perceptions can be changed, and senses are altered.

Generally, seizures are more likely to occur if a head or brain injury has occurred. Other factors that can increase a person's risk may be persistent drug and alcohol abuse or a family history of seizures. If a seizure occurs while a person is driving or performing other tasks, other serious injuries are more likely to occur.